(editor’s note – Billy Joel was advertised as the opener, but there is considerable uncertainty as to whether that actually happened.)
32,000 rock, romp with Beach Boys at SPAC
by Alan Jay Alpern
The Knickerbocker News, August 27, 1976
The largest crowd to jam into the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in five years joyously engaged in a rock ‘n’ roll orgy with the Beach Boys Thursday.
The foot-stomping audience of 32,169 was the second largest in SPAC history—surpassed only by the 33,000-plus who came to a 1971 concert by The Who.
The sprawling concert arena was alive with anticipation as the crowd eagerly waited for the Beach Boys to take the stage. The mood was set by numerous frisbees flitting about, a beachball bouncing around the audience, bare-chested young bucks prancing up and down the aisles and exasperated ushers vainly attempting to keep the aisles clear and the crowd under control. A mile-long traffic jam on Route 9 accentuated the anticipation before one even reached the amphitheater and became part of the swirling mass of fans. The stage itself was set in the classic atmosphere of a Beach Boys concert—four palm trees seemed to sway in the cool summer evening, and the Sloop John B was bedecked with a mast of flashing lights, a brass and horn ensemble, an organ and a long-haired percussionist.
At 8:30 p.m. Mike Love, Carl and Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine quietly ambled on stage to a standing ovation which never really subsided. (Guiding spirit and group leader Brian Wilson was unexplainably absent from the SPAC show. Brian, who has rejoined the tour after nearly 10 years away from the maddening crowd, is the most prolific songwriter among the Beach Boys and the possessor of the famous falsetto which marks their sound.)
The sometimes rowdy, sometimes just plain happy, but never mellow throng was not let down—the Beach Boys were exuberant and entertaining from their opening classic “California Girls” to the finale of “Fun, Fun, Fun.”
The band, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, easily moved through the most famous hits, and the crowd reacted with whoops of recognition as each song began.
The most stunning renditions were of standards such as “Sloop John B,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and the trend-setting “Good Vibrations.” Other crowd pleasers were “Help Me Rhonda,” “I Get Around,” “Surfer Girl,” “Surfin’,” “Catch a Wave” and “Barbara Ann.”
Mike Love, lead singer and chief nut of the Beach Boys, was his usual pixie-like self at SPAC. Prancing about the stage, he teased and tantalized a young audience anxious for a good time. The rest of the band was typically subdued in comparison to Love’s manic personality—while he is attired in a stunning white suit with a silver tasselled vest over his bare chest, the remaining Beach Boys are either tee-shirted or more quietly dressed.
The concert and its audience were paradoxical in several ways. The most enthusiastic fans seemed to be the youngest—many appeared to be younger than the songs which they cheered so wildly. And the overall impact of the show was a good time for everyone, but that ignores the abusive jostling that went on as thousands of screaming fans poured down the aisles within seconds after the Beach Boys came on stage. Several times the aisles seemed more like boxing rings as fist fights broke out among over-enthusiastic fans.
Still, 99 percent of the crowd would probably be ready to come back for more next summer, including myself, and I didn’t really have such a great time. The Beach Boys are an American spectacular, you see. They are the only native-born group to rival the popularity of such renowned imports as the Beatles and Rolling Stones, and for doing that they will always hold a special place in our hearts.
The Post-Star, August 26, 1976
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